Thousands of dollars worth of bull semen has been destroyed
after a cattle building exploded in fire early this morning.

Emergency services were called to Yarram Herd Services in
Gippsland, Victoria, at about 3am where 100 cryogenic cylinders containing
cattle semen exploded in the blaze.

It took 10 fire crews more than two hours to contain the
fire at the building, which is a cattle breeding service.

Yarram Herd Services' committee vice-chairman Aaron Thomas said
the loss would be a "huge blow" for farmers, with the cylinders worth
between $500 and $1000 each.

"We're coming into the artificial insemination (AI)
season so there would have been substantial amounts of semen inside the tanks
that we've lost which was owned by our local farmers, and it can range in value
from $5 per straw to $95 per straw," he told the ABC.

"A lot of farmers would have semen stock in the
building, in those tanks, preparing for AI, so we've got that plus all of our
herd testing equipment that was in there as well.

"So this is significant damage and it is going to have
a flow-on affect on Yarram, especially after the drought that Yarram district
has experienced over the last 12 months, it's going to be a real blow for
sure."